


Sennensou No Mi

by velvet_sometimes



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Botanical Inaccuracies, Botany, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Gods, I'm terrible at writing battle scenes, Minor Character Challenge, Minor Characters are Main Characters, Not Epilogue Compliant, Please I'm not a botanist, Post-Canon, Romance, Some Humor, Starts off light hearted but moves into becoming a serious piece, Wolf Pack, Youkai, Youkai In Hiding, god touched
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 03:34:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6594955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvet_sometimes/pseuds/velvet_sometimes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The rarest of healing flowers blooms in a deadly valley, for a thousand years. Kagome must seek it out, to fulfill her responsibilities in the future - but the journey will bring her closer to the past than she ever thought possible. An old friend is waiting; and maybe love in all its forms blooms as long as the flower she seeks.</p><p>Won Second Place in The Feudal Association Awards for Best Drama -October 2014</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pure

**Author's Note:**

> At 66 chapters, this story is as of yet incomplete. I'll slowly be moving it to this site from FFn, probably a few chapters or so a day. 
> 
> So that we're all on the same page here, this is a post-canon epilogue-divergence. I *always* operate under the belief that the well never reopened after she completed high school. And the Flower that is being referenced in the tittle and first chapter is the Sennensou No Mi; The Thousand Year flower which is brought up in a stand alone episode (season 4, episode 15; Jaken Falls Ill).

**Pure ******

Kagome sighed as she carefully placed the final bottle of dried herbs in her work cabinet, turning back to her journal to make a notation of just how low the shine was of the various medicines.

The one in particular that had her worried was a small flower. Its berries the only known cure for Saimyoshou poison -as rare as they were in this day and age- that worked on Youkai. It had no name besides that of Sennensou no Mi; and there was no official record of it's existence in any sort of herboligy book she had come across. But then, most of those books were written for humans, and mortals weren't very keen on keeping up on things that cured Youkai if they had no effect on their own kind. The ones that even knew Youkai existed, at any rate.

That was where the Sunset Shrine differed from most of mainstream Japan though - they specialized in helping Demons in need. So Kagome needed this plant.

Sitting back down at her desk, Kagome rummaged around in the drawers for a long moment, before making a triumphant noise when she emerged from the clutter with a worn slip of paper that held merely a name of a nature preserve and a phone number.

Dialing it was nerve wracking; this was, after all, Kagome's first year of being fully in charge of the shrine and it's practices. Her grandfather used to keep this job to himself before he'd passed; and they'd had no need to track down more for years afterward... but now they were running dangerously low. And so she was finally getting her first opportunity to call the Youkai her family had made a deal with centuries ago.

“This is the number for the Sunset Shrine;” A deep voice growled from the other end of the line, startling her as she hadn't heard him pick up. “What's wrong, you fuddy old priest?”

“Er, Hello...” she replied hesitantly, purely to let the aggressive alpha feel in control, startling the male on the other end. “I'm Ms. Higurashi; the new head priestess. Are you the Wolf Alpha who takes us to retrieve more herbs from the reserve?”


	2. Dragon

**Dragon ******

“I am.” He voice answered, a touch of pride in his tone, though it was marred by the crackle of bad signal.

Kagome gave a sigh of relief. “Oh _good _. I don't know the particulars of the deal between you and our shrine; -I've only just learned there was an agreement with the Wolf Tribe at all actually- but you're our Youkai liaison apparently, and I need to schedule an escort into the mountains for an herb hunt.”__

If there was one thing Kagome missed about her trips into the feudal era, it was going where ever she pleased, and not having to deal with trespassing laws. Youkai _liaisons _. Getting _permission _.____

The voice was quiet, almost as if he was confused for a moment. “Well, nice of someone to actually _call _for once; usually the old priest would just show up.” The wolf alpha snorted at that, almost sounding like a dragon when it came crackling though her receiver. “But yeah, I'll get one of my boys to take your man up.”__

“Man?”

“Yeah, the boy you're sending; your shine has always sent males, it's in the agreement.”

It was her turn to pause, before delicately offering her next words. “I'm afraid that's going to be a problem.”

“How so?” He asked tightly.

“I'm the only one here.”

“Awe, _hell _.”__


	3. Fan

**Fan ******

Kagome briefly eyed the small fan that was softly whirring in the window; wishing it would better circulate the air in the room before turning her attention back onto the man on the phone. “Was there a reason the contract specified for males or can we get away with it just this once?”

For his part, the male on the other end of the line growling lowly in his throat, the noise telling of just how heartily displeased he was. “The clause of only dealing with the males of your family is old; as old as the contract itself. I'm not particularly keen on going back on my word; even talking to you now is pushing it.”

She sighed, leaning forward rest her forehand in her palm that was propped up on the end of her desk. “I'm almost out of some very important herbs, -ones that we use to heal _Youkai _and not just mortals- and I don't have time to call my brother back from college to go as a stand in.” she paused, figuring he'd need to know if she was to convince him to continue speaking to her. “Since grandpa passed, I'm really the only one running the shrine; there's no one else who can go.”__

The wolf on the other end of the line snarled something unintelligible.

“Catch the next train coming out; I'll meet you myself with two of my most trusted pack-mates at the station, Priestess.” Kagome began to smile, mouth opening to profusely thank him when he continued on. “Pack enough supplies for a week long hiking trip; we'll provide the food and water. If we're going to do this, I've some ground rules to lay down.”

“Alright?” she replied, feeling slightly uneasy.

“You stay with one of us at all times; you'll have privacy, but you are under no circumstances to go off on your own. You're also not to use your Reiki unless it is a life or death situation, am I understood?”

“I get the feeling this is to be more dangerous than Grandpa let on.”

The man laughed humorlessly. “Priests are allowed on the reserve, mainly because in terms of spiritual users, they are normally the weaker of the sexes, but all sorts of wild demons live out where we're going, little Ms. Higurashi, and to them you'll look like a tasty treat. Just the idea of a Miko on our lands will have them coming after you, to prevent anything you _might _do.”__


	4. Rancid

**Rancid ******

Kagome reclined back into the uncomfortably hard train-bench, leaning her head against the window as she watched the scenery rush past, her heavy backpack pressed into her leg.

In the distance she could see the outdoor overhead of the station, loudly proclaiming what stop it was, and she was thankful for the sight; turning her nose closer to the window so she could breath in the smell of fresh air that was rushing in through the crack.

Even if she hadn't seen the stop, she'd have known she was in the right place from the sweet scent of the breeze that so easily overpowered the rancid smell of the trashcans that were pined by the exits.  
  
After so long in the past, Kagome couldn't easily abide the smells of the city; they were just too strong compared to back then. So really, she was more than a little grateful to be traveling out to see the Wolf tribe; even with it's danger, it was the first chance she'd received since the well had closed to remove herself from the city.

The shine sat stop Tokyo of course, there but distinctly separated, and yet it couldn't even completely banish the city enough for her to feel at home.

And besides, if anyone knew danger, it was Kagome Higurashi. So as the train rolled to a stop with an ear-piercing squeal, She shouldered her bag and stepped out onto the platform without hesitation.  
  
It would take more than a few wild Youkai to scare off the _Shikon no Miko _.__


	5. Overshadowed

**Overshadowed ******

When Kagome stepped off the train and onto the waiting platform, she smiled at the greenery around her; the way the trees grew so tall they overshadowed the platform, even with the thin strip of lush grass that had grown in from the clearing of the forest to make room for the addition of the track between them and the station.

There was just something about the mountains that felt, smelt, sounded like home to her. It was just so wild; one of the last places that could really claim to be such, and seeing it, feeling it all around her, was as close as she could really come to being back with her companions again.

People flitted past her where she stood, looking out at the woods that buffeted the far side, and she could hear the exclamations of children at the appearance of a flower too far away to reach, and the smell of chicken that wafted in from a street stand somewhere on the other side of the track.

Behind her the train had closed it's doors and began rumbling back down the track, off to some unknown destination, and still she stared at the trees.

But as the last car pulled away, she turned, waiting for it to bare the other side of the track to her vision. And there three men stood in the uniform of Park Rangers; waiting for her.

“You must be Ms. Higurashi.” The man in front said in lue of actually asking, his deep, rumbling voice sounding displeased but accepting as he ran fingers though his ponytail, but then he pinned her with eyes so bright a blue they pulled a gasp of recognition from her chest and she couldn't halt the question that was merely a name, that came leaping from her throat.

“Kouga?”


	6. World

**World ******

Those eyes widened, making them look even more dramatic against his sun-darkened skin. His head tilted slightly as he looked at her, sniffing the air. For a moment the light caught him, and she could see elongated ears peeking though his hair, and the barest hint of a sharply pointed canine before the moment passed, leaving his glamour as perfectly human as it had been moments before.

It almost felt like her world had twisted itself upside down again, before it came crashing back down around her ears at his next words.

“Of course. Who else were you expecting, Miko?” He asked, a single brow arched and not even a flash of recognition in his eyes, before gesturing to the men flanking him. “This is Hakkaku and Ginta; my seconds in command.”

“I know who you all are.” she carefully enunciated, walking across the track to stand before them. “I'm Kagome.” she told them, looking up into his eyes as if waiting for him to catch on.

He backed up slightly to stand closer to his men, looking slightly uncomfortable at her proximity, though they seemed rather curious at her odd behavior. “Eh, yeah. That's great. Pretty name. Now that we're all introduced, lets get a move on; we're wasting daylight.”

Kagome felt almost heart broken. It was Kouga; her erstwhile suitor, and one of the dear friends she'd lost upon the wells closing forever at her wishing away the jewel. “You don't remember me.”

“Of course I do. We spoke on the phone yesterday. You're the priestess who needed to go picking some herbs in demon country.”

“No.” For some strange reason, even with how much it hurt to be looked at by those familiar eyes without even a flicker of remembrance in them, Kagome felt a flame determination spring up from the pit of her belly, and with it, she began to speak to him, watching with hard eyes as each word impacted almost visibly into the man before her. “The Sengoku Era. Naraku. The Shikon Jewel. Inuyasha. Sit boy. Green sailor school uniforms. The Shikon no Miko. _Your woman _.”__


	7. Death

**Death ******

The wolves moved to stand around her then, Surreptitiously sniffing at the ends of her hair, the tips of her fingers, the straps of her bag. Trying to place her scent without attracting the attention of the humans around them.

All except Kouga, who stood before her, holding his breath with eyes wide and fists clinched at his sides. “The Shikon no Miko disappeared with the jewel centuries ago.” he announced into the quiet around them, fractured only by the zooming of another train that passed along behind them and the quiet to and fro of conversation somewhere further down the line. “I watched them both flicker out of existence without a single chance at saying goodbye. _I watched you die _.”__

But she was shaking her head, sending strands of dark hair flying around them as the breeze picked them up and tossed them about; looking to be so much more chaotic than the slow swaying of his ponytail. “No. I never died; the jewel just sent me home.” she told him simply, continuing on at his unreadable look. “ _Here _, Kouga. _Now _. I was from the _future _. It's been almost Five Hundred years for you, but it's been a scant Ten for me.”______

She knew he didn't know how to react to that deceleration, and so turned slightly to smile at the twin wolves at her sides, and they offered her timid smiles in reply.

“Is it really you, little sister?”


	8. Life

**Life ******

In reply she released a small measure of power, letting it roll over them, buffeting their youki in translucent waves of pink that only they could see.

And the wolf alpha relaxed at the sting of her purity washing over him, closing his eyes and releasing slightly his finely tuned control to allow his own youki to brush against her in return, reveling in the familiarity that was almost as if their powers recognized each other, even after so long.

When he finally looked at her again, there was no anger or hesitance in his gaze, even when she met him look for look in a staring contest that would have been at any other moment a challenge for dominance.

Instead he opened his arms, gesturing for her to come to him, and for a moment, his human image flickered again and she got a flash of deadly claws that seemed to comfort her more than the appearance of soft, mortal hands.

But she approached anyway, coming to stand nose to nose with him before allowing her old wolf to envelop her in his embrace and bury his nose in the crook of her neck, breathing in the scent of her life.  
“Welcome home then, familiar stranger. It's been a long time.”

“Longer than I'll ever know.”


End file.
